Dark Past, Bright Future
by LonelyLad
Summary: The Battle of Hogwarts may be over, but those who fought still are haunted on a daily basis. We will see the building of careers and families, the struggles of trauma, the joys of life, and the hardships to get there for our heroes. Rated M for future scenes
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The Unfortunate Predisposition

Harry sat on the cold stone floor of Dumbledore's office. What were in reality a matter of minutes felt like eons. His heart, beating so heavily that it was deafening. Shock plagued his body first in the form of clarity. He had lived through his life unable to comprehend why he was a parselmouth nor why he could hear the horcrux's cries until this moment. The memories that Professor Snape had left him in his final breaths filled in every portion that was missing from his life the past 7 years. Like Professor Snape, Harry was not a monster. In all actuality, they were more alike than they were different. Their pasts deemed them fit to follow a path of darkness; however, their ability to love prevented them from doing so.

The shock then transformed into a state of numbness. Though Harry's questions of his past were answered, he also had to face the reality of his future. Absentmindedly, he began fiddling with the cuffs of his sleeves on his jacket. The paintings in the office had all left their frames, leaving the room silent. The only noise that filled the room was Harry's resonating breath. He began thinking of his last confrontational conversation with Professor Snape.

"How dare you stand where he stood!" Harry flinched as he dwelled on this statement. He noted that the anger in his voice made these words echo throughout the Great Hall. He began to feel as if he was drowning from guilt. The man whom he loathed nearly as much as Voldemort himself was actually a loving man who lost the love of his life. A man who gave up everything to protect the last remaining link of Lily Evans in existence. A man who just wanted a second chance.

Harry slowly stood up. His hands were shaking feverishly. He walked back over to the pensive and conjured Snape's memories back into a vile. After it was capped, he set the vile onto Dumbledore's desk. He hope that one day in the near future someone would find it and witness what Harry just did. Then they would understand why he had to do what he was going to do. He stared at the upright vile on the desk for seconds.

"It has to be done" he said quietly to himself as turned away from the vile and walked towards the door. After exiting the office, Harry felt a chill run up his spine. What were once beautifully constructed stone walls and multi-colored stained glass windows were now scattered materials on the floor stained with only red. The cool summer breeze coming through the gaping holes in the walls grazed Harry's face and caused his eyes to water slightly. He ignored this reaction and made his way to the Grand Staircase.

Exiting the second floor, Harry though back to the massive hustle and bustle that would always take place in the Grand Staircase. Usually during the end of the year, the most popular piece conversation was how N.E.W.T.S. were quickly approaching. That was not the case now. Harry was completely alone in the staircase. Many of the paintings were either empty or had fallen off the walls and crashed onto the ground and there was not a ghost in sight. He proceeded down the stairs.

Harry had decided that he wouldn't tell anyone about this decision, including Ron and Hermione. If he did, he knew that they would either want to go with him, or completely stop him from doing what needed to be done. When he reached the Entrance Hall, he couldn't help but take a quick look inside of the Great Hall. The bodies of the fallen had been removed. They were more than likely taken to the Hospital Wing, Harry thought. Those left inside were gathering in large clusters of family and friends. In this glance, Harry saw the Weasley's huddled together comforting George.

"He will never be the same after tonight." Harry said to himself. Guilt began to flood over him once again and he knew that if he didn't look away now, he wouldn't be able to finish his task. As he turned, a large feeling of sorrow also washed over him. Yes, it was true that Harry was an orphan, but he didn't remember experiences he had with his parents. To an extent, losing his parents at such a young age helped him cope with the loss. On the contrary, the Weasley's, particularly George, grew up and raised Fred. Their mourning was unfathomable to Harry.

The courtyard was hardly recognizable. The only aspect of it that was still in decent condition was the cobblestone ground, which was splattered with blood. Harry noticed a figure was lying on the ground ahead of him. When he got a closer look at it, he realized that it was Fenrir Greyback with a silver dagger through his chest. Initially, Harry was relieved by this action and hoped that Remus was the one who did it; although, that was highly unlikely. Soon, however, Harry began to feel indifferent, because soon enough, he would also be lying on the ground dead. He moved forward.

He passed Hagrid's Hut soon thereafter. Normally, this would give him joy and he would take a moment to appreciate all that Hagrid had done for him throughout his magical career. Yet, Harry knew all too well that Hagrid was not in his hut. Harry knew that Hagrid wasn't going to spot him from his kitchen window and invite him in for tea. Harry knew that Hagrid had been taken by deatheaters as a hostage and he knew that Hagrid would probably watch him die.

Harry reached the entrance of the Forbidden Forest. He stood and admired its complexity. For years, he was always told to steer clear of the forest due to its erratic and raw behaviors. However, at this moment, the forest had taken on a new persona. Each and every ecosystem lived in harmony and benefited from the other. Every plant and creature had its purpose in this micro society, knowing exactly what to do and how to behave with the help of instinct. Harry wished that his life could have been similar; especially this moment. Though he knew this was what needed to be done, Harry still couldn't wrap his mind around what was happening.

In one instance, he was relieved that soon this war would be over. Once Voldemort destroyed the part of himself inside of Harry, he would be extremely weak, and with the everlasting courage of his friends at the castle, Harry knew that Voldemort's time on this Earth was limited. He marched on.

He didn't know where in particular Voldemort and his followers would loiter while they waited for him, but Harry figured he had a fair distance to go into the forest. The dynamic of the forest began to change in a peculiar way the further Harry ventured. The area that was once filled with the many creeks and chirps of insects and flying beasts was now completely silent. The once tall, heathy green trees were now thinning immensely and turning brown. The hard ground that was covered by long green grass was becoming muddy and slippery. The night sky that had showed possibly thousands of stars a matter of minutes ago was now empty and was plagued with a dark maroon color. Harry's heart quickened by the sight of it.

He stopped and reached for the golden snitch in the left breast pocket of his jacket. Upon raising it up to eye level the phrase "I open at the close" engraved itself into the gold medal. Harry closed his eyes.

"I'm ready to die." He said with strength. He placed the snitch to his lips, then removed it a second later. The outer casing retracted and revealed the Resurrection Stone within it. Before Harry could cast a charm to lift the stone out of the casing, the stone floated out of the snitch. Slowly, Harry grabbed the stone with his left hand and closed his eyes once more. He expected to hear rustling of leaves, or the breathing of other individuals, but he heard nothing. He opened his eyes.

The first figure he made eye contact with was Fred, who was standing directly ahead of Harry. To Fred's left was Remus and Tonks, standing very close to one another, holding hands. To the right of Fred was Sirius. Every muscle in Harry's body tensed.

"Fred, I…" Harry began.

"Don't even bother Harry." Fred interrupted, obviously angry. He was wearing the clothes he had died in; a pair of old, warn jeans, a beige turtle neck underneath a plaid green and beige button up. Fred took a step closer to Harry. "Do you know what you did to my family?" He said exasperatedly. "You ruined them Harry. You ruined them and this damn war ending isn't going to change anything for them. They will never be the same people again and it's your fault."

Harry was dumbfounded and he felt his throat tightening. He wanted to scream. He wanted to sob. He wanted Fred to know how sorry he was for this war, but Harry couldn't muster enough strength to say a single word. He stood there, like a dog that had just done something very wrong and was awaiting its punishment.

Fred spoke again. "What is George going to do, Harry? Have you even thought about that?" He took another step closer to Harry. "Better yet, what about Ginny, Harry? Do you honestly think she'll ever forgive you? Let alone, trust you? It's better that you do away with yourself, because I don't want you anywhere near her."

Harry was on the verge of combating these words with his own, but he was afraid of the sounds that may have come out of his mouth if he did. "That's enough, Fred." Tonks said. She, Remus, and Sirius looked younger than he had ever remembered them being.

"Hi Tonks." Harry was able to finally mutter. She looked at him with a grim, sad look.

"Hello, Harry." She said coldly. The sky had transitioned from a dark maroon to a scarlet red.

"Harry we know you're doing what the prophecy said" said Remus, looking excruciatingly pale. "but what about Teddy? Andromeda lost her husband and daughter in a matter of weeks. She needs to take care of herself before she can take care of a child." Tears formed in Harry's eyes. He let one fall down his left cheek while he maintained eye contact with Remus. "Our son has no one, Harry. He's going to end up just like you: alone."

"Remus…" Sirius said. Harry was now letting his tears wash down his face silently. He stared at the soggy ground. He didn't want his godfather to see him like this. Sirius walked over to Harry. He finally stared his godfather in the eyes. Something was not right. The twinkle that was once in Sirius' eyes was fogged over with grief.

"I told your parents not to come." Sirius said flatly. "You broke their hearts, Harry." Harry could no longer contain his internal inferno of sadness.

"I just tried to do the right thing." He sobbed. "I never wanted any of you to die for me."

"Well guess what, we did." Said Fred heatedly. "Have fun in Hell, Potter." With that, Fred disappeared and Harry felt an empty void in the pit of his stomach. Tonks and Remus looked at each other, then at Harry. They then also disappeared.

"Go finish the prophecy." Sirius said, then proceeded to disappear.

Harry's heart sank. What he thought was going to help him cope with this decision turned out to be a horrible choice. He dropped the stone to the ground and quickly made his way to his destination. At the foot of a small hill, he could hear a crowd speaking to one another and he knew that it was Voldemort and his followers.

"Pertrificus Totalus!" Screeched a devilish voice. The spell stunned Harry. "I'VE GOT POTTER!" Screamed the voice again. Harry didn't have to turn around to know that Bellatrix was the one who cast the spell. Soon, the rest of the deatheaters rushed over the hill to see if what Bellatrix was yelling was true. There was a bundle of commotion, congratulating her on her catch, but silence soon ensued.

Voldemort himself walked over the hill. His long black cloak made him look as though he was levitating towards Harry. His face showed no expression and his eyes looked through Harry. Finally, when he was only inches away from Harry, he spoke.

"Harry Potter…" he began as a menacing grin grew on his face. "The Boy who Lived." The snakelike man began to chuckle. "What would your wonderful Dumbledore think you now? You've let so many of your faithful followers fight and die for you, because you're a coward." He paused. "A coward, just like your parents. You'd rather run and hide while others lay down their lives for you. Have I ever expressed how much I enjoyed murdering your parents, Harry?" A fire started to burn white in Harry's stomach.

"Your cocky father was the first of the two that I faced. He was nothing more than a rat in a man's skin. My only regret is that I didn't torture him before I killed him, but I made up for that with your mother. She thought she was so noble as she protected you, but nothing could make her stop screaming like a whore as I casted the cruciatus curse." Rage filled every fiber of Harry's being. He wanted to fight. He wanted to torture Voldemort for every wrongdoing he's caused him. He wanted to make him suffer.

"I can sense you want to fight, Harry. I won't deny myself that pleasure." Voldemort reached for his wand in the right breast pocket of his robes. He casted away the charm and Harry was free. "Get out your wand, Potter!" Voldemort said sternly. Despite the anger that was fueling inside of Harry, he did not draw his wand. He stood there, facing the man who had ruined his life with a blank stare.

"PULL OUT YOUR WAND, POTTER!" He screamed this time. Harry still remained still. The expression on Voldemort's face was now a combination of lividness and embarrassment. "HOW DARE YOU NOT FIGHT BACK! CRUCIO!" Harry fell to his knees, but did not utter a single sound. The pain subsided as quickly as it began. "FIGHT BACK!" Voldemort screamed again. "CRUCIO!"

This time the pain was much more server and Harry fell completely to the ground. The curse lasted much longer this time. Harry could feel every muscle in his body radiate with heat and he could swear that his blood began to boil. The curse subsided once again.

"Fine." Voldemort said after a few moments of silence. "If you don't wish to fight back, then I'll finish what needed to be done 16 years ago." Harry took a quick glance around him. The deatheaters had formed a large oval around he and Voldemort. Some, like Bellatrix looked elated and were quietly giggling at the sight. Others looked anxious; particularly, Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy. Harry looked back to Voldemort. He held the elder wand inches away from his face and examined it closely. He then pointed the wand at Harry. "AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Harry woke up in a panic. His heart was beating out of his chest. He evaluated the room he was in. It was Sirius's old bedroom in Grimmauld Place. Harry eventually realized that he was only dreaming. A hand gently grazed his back.

"It was the forest dream again, wasn't it?" Said Ginny tiredly who was lying next to Harry. The war had ended nearly a year ago, but both Ginny and Harry were still being haunted. Harry with his nightmares and Ginny's compulsive anxiousness in public settings.

"I'm sorry…" Harry tried to say, but he choked on his own words as tears started to fall down his face. Ginny sat up and stared at him. It had always amazed Harry how much of an influence Ginny had on him. Her pupils were almost fully dilated. Her long auburn hair was in a messy braid laying on her right shoulder. Her black spaghetti strap sleep shirt hugged her curves flatteringly. She brought her hands up to his face and began wiping his tears away. Without having to explain a single aspect of the dream, Harry was able to calm down. His tears subsided.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Ginny asked sweetly. Harry took a deep breath.

"It was the same one as always. In this one though, I saw Fred, Remus, Tonks, and Sirius when I touched the stone and…" Harry took another breath, feeling like knives were penetrating his chest. "They resented me for their deaths."

"What did they say to you, Harry?" Ginny asked lovingly. In the aftermath of war, Ginny and Harry had picked up their relationship where they left off. They felt it were easier to allow themselves to open up to each other rather than hid these unresolved issues from each other.

"Sirius told my parents not to come. Remus and Tonks told me that Teddy is going to end up just like me. And Fred…" Harry stuttered. "Fred told me that I ruined your family's lives and it would be better for me to do away with myself than be with you." Harry stared at the foot of their bed. He couldn't collect the courage to look at Ginny in the eyes, but he could feel her stare.

"Harry" She began. "Harry, please look at me." He looked at her. Even with Harry's blurry vision, her eyes seemed larger and more brown than normal. She touched his face.

"Harry, first of all, you know that that's not what actually happened. You didn't even see Fred and Tonks that night." Said Ginny. "And you know that even if you did see Fred and Tonks, they we wouldn't react that way. Fred…" Ginny stopped and took a breath. Harry could see that tears were beginning to swell in her eyes. Harry faced her and put his arm around her waist.

"Fred fought willingly, Harry. He fought for all of us and for the future of the wizarding world. He knew what this war was going to entail." Tears were now silently falling down Ginny's rosy cheeks. "He knew that death was always a risk." Harry, now fully facing her, pulled her into his chest and hugged her. This, he thought, is exactly why they needed each other; they were able to comfort each other's losses in different ways. Ginny gestured the end of the hug and looked at Harry.

"You know your parents are so proud of you, Harry. They told you that the night you saw them in the forest. You couldn't have made them more proud and that goes for Sirius too." A small smile grew on Harry's warm teary face. "And as for Remus and Tonks, they wouldn't have made you Teddy's godfather if they didn't think highly of you." Ginny continued. "They loved you like you were their son. And you are a father figure in Teddy's life now, so yes, he probably will take after you in some aspects. But why is that a bad thing?" Harry was beginning to feel overwhelmed with melancholy and glee simultaneously. He hugged Ginny again. His arms were around her shoulders and neck and Ginny's were around his waist.

"There was nothing left unresolved, Harry." She said. "Everything was said and done in the end."

"I know, Gin." Harry finally said, his voice weak from both sadness and exhaustion.

"I love you." Said Ginny. "I hope you know that."

"I do and I love you so much more." Harry said. "You save me every day." They chuckled.

"We should probably try to go back to sleep." Ginny said tiredly as she broke away from the hug once again.

"Yeah we should. What time do we have to be at the Harpies tryouts tomorrow?" Harry asked as they made their way under the covers.  
"7 am and it's already 3."

"Yeah, we definitely need to go back to sleep." Said Harry as he brought Ginny closer to him. He kissed her lips. "Good night, Gin. Thank you."

"Always, love." She replied. They soon fell into a peaceful sleep; together.


	2. Harpies and Heartbreak

Chapter 2: Harpies and Heartache

Harry woke up the next morning. He rolled onto his right side to glance at his nightstand clock; 6 am it read. With a sigh, Harry rolled over and reached for Ginny. To his surprise, she was not in the bed. He sat up and looked around the dimly lit room. Soon he recognized the sound of water running from their shared bathroom next to their bedroom. Harry, feeling relieved, got out of bed and grabbed his wand.

"Lumos" He said with a groggy, tired voice. The temperature of the room felt cold against his bare chest. He walked over to his and Ginny's shared closet and grabbed an old white T-shirt and green and white flannel. He then went over to his dresser and retrieved a pair of jeans that were much too large on him.

Since the war had ended, Harry had lost a significant amount of weight. The original cause in the change in his appearance was the grief he faced immediately after the war. He helped organize and pay for the funerals for those who were lost in the battle. During this process, Harry had also spoken to the Ministry of Magic exclusively. After collaborating, the ministry had decided to award those who died with the Order of Merlin: First Class and they were buried with gold medals with green ribbons representing their acts of outstanding bravery or distinction in magic.

Once the dead were buried, Harry went to each family of the deceased and offered them his most sincere condolences. The feedback was completely positive and though the families and friends of those who died would always grieve, they knew that their loved one died for an honorable cause. Harry's heart was filled with sadness from the losses that he had endured, but he was still able to move forward.

Construction on Hogwarts ended as soon as it began. Within no time at all, the castle was back in its original state and ready to be used for the purpose of education once again. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were all invited to attend as if they were in their 7th year by Professor McGonagall. Hermione felt she would benefit from finishing her education and agreed to go back. Ron wanted to follow Hermione and go back to school, but he knew that the past year of his life taught him more than he would ever need to know about magic. He declined and decided to work alongside George at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Harry also declined the invitation and had decided to begin a career as an auror, which caused Harry to lose weight much more quickly.

The process of becoming an auror was rigorous and stressful. The yearlong training tested the limits of witches and wizards in the following 4 strengths: physical, magical, mental, and emotional. Throughout the training, students would perform intricate tasks designed by their instructors to test these strengths. Some were a true test of physical fitness or magical skill that ranged in difficulty, while others were combinations of two strengths.

These tasks took place in the basement of the Ministry. Each instructor would mentally create a course that their students would have to go through and they would then cast a charm on a single broom closet, which would replicate what they were thinking. The instructor would step inside with the students one by one and follow them through the course to ensure that they finished every obstacle to their standards and met the goal at the end of the course.

Harry's training was nearly over and his instructor, Amos Warbeck began putting his final task together. Harry was receiving outstanding scores in his physical, magical, and mental performances; however, his emotional was lacking significantly and Warbeck was quite aware of that.

"Quit being so empathetic, Potter!" Harry could hear Warbeck say. Harry was pulled off of his second to last task by his instructor. "You can't save everyone. Just try to save the majority." In this task, Harry was fighting in a generic battle scene. He didn't recognize anyone around him or the building he was in. All he knew was that he had to defend and fight for a group of muggles against an evil sorcerer. In the process of doing this, Harry witnessed the deaths of many muggles. Even though Harry knew that these people were only fragments of the charm that was casted on the room, he still couldn't resist anger from brewing inside of him. Soon, Harry was dueling the male sorcerer; he was no match for Harry and was soon defeated. The sorcerer hadn't even hit the ground before the charm had been retracted from the room. Harry looked in front of him and saw Warbeck looking at him with a grim look.

"Potter, the objective was to defeat the sorcerer and save as many as you can. There was no reasoning with him and it would've saved more lives." There was a small silence. Warbeck enjoyed having Harry as a student and he knew that Harry's magical skill was astonishing, which is why he hated it when Harry tried to reason with the villains in these tasks. He could very easily end these tasks much more quickly if he didn't. "You should've just done away with him in the fastest way possible." Harry looked at Warbeck and hoped that he misinterpreted his words. Warbeck spoke again. "Just use the Killing Curse. It's quick and easy." Harry felt nauseous.

Simply knowing that he had one more task worried Harry incredibly. Often called "The Graduation Task", students are given a task that tests all 4 strengths and must be completed within a day's time; however, the strength in which the student lacks in the most will be the largest part of it.

Harry's heart began to race as he thought his future task. If he didn't pass, he would have to begin his auror training all over again. To an extent, he wanted to just get it over with, because he knew that the task that was going to be designed for him and could destroy him. His mind was now flooding with ideas of what his task could consist of. Harry was so distracted by his thoughts that he didn't hear Ginny open the bedroom door.

"Harry?" She said in a voice that was both tired and concerned. Harry quickly turned around. She was already dressed in a pair of black leggings and a Gryffindor long sleeve shirt.

"Morning, Love." Harry said in the most normal voice as possible. He then proceeded to walk over to Ginny and pecked her lips.

"Why aren't you dressed yet? We need to go soon." Ginny questioned as she pulled her wet hair into a tight braid.

"Gin, we have plenty of time, it's only 6." He said calmly.

"Harry, it's 6:45. I have to be there in 15 minutes." She said quickly as she grabbed a green argyle suitcase that she had packed the night before and headed downstairs. As soon as she left the room, Harry immediately went over to his nightstand and checked his clock. She was right, they did have to leave soon. He quickly dressed himself, all the while wondering how he managed to distract himself for the better part of an hour. After he finished, he grabbed his wand from underneath his pillow and left the bedroom.

Grimmauld Place for the longest time had been dimly lit and eerie looking; however, after he and Ginny had moved in, they changed this. The entire house was now brightly lit. The ceiling above the staircase now held a glass chandler. The wall paper in the entire house was also changed from its gloomy light and dark grey stipes to a very clean looking light blue. The railing was dusted and polished and the oak wood looked as if it were installed days before. The musty navy blue carpet was pulled out so only the oak stairs showed.

Harry reached the ground floor and walked to the kitchen. Ginny was pacing back and forth slowly while eating an untoasted bagel. She was so overly consumed with her thoughts that she didn't see that Harry walked in. He wanted to go up to her and hug her from behind, but he knew that if he did, her fight or flight instinct would take over. Ginny's paranoia from the war made her constantly over evaluate her surroundings and immediately attack anyone or anything that startled her.

"Gin, you ready?" Harry asked calmly. Ginny broke out of her trance and made eye contact with Harry.

"What?" She said with a mouth full of bagel and a clueless look on her face. Harry chuckled and a small smile grew on his face.

"We should get going. Check-in ends at 7, right?" He said.

"Oh! Right, sorry. Yes, we need to go." Ginny said in a discombobulated manner. With the bagel in hand, she walked from the Black Family china shelf over to Harry. When she reached him, she wrapped her arms around his chest and signed.

"Are you okay, Ginny?" Harry asked. Prior to this morning, Ginny had been elated to go to Wales and tryout.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She replied. "I just have a lot on my mind."

"What's wrong?" Harry asked concerned. There was a moment of silence.

"I'm going to be gone for 2 weeks. What if it's all for nothing and I don't make it? Better yet, what if I get there and there and the other girls trying out think I'm only there because I'm dating Harry Potter?" She said sadly. Harry wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly in silence for a few moments before answering her.

"First of all, you are going to kick everyone's arse." Harry said with a small chuckle. "You grew up with 6 brothers. You're as tough as they come. Secondly, when you were first asked to go to these tryouts, our relationship wasn't public. Your skills alone opened up this opportunity to you; I played no part in it." Harry said confidently. Ginny squeezed him tightly for a second and separated herself from him. She looked at him in the eyes with an expression that was still indifferent.

"What if I'm accidentally startled? Harry, what if I hurt someone?" Tears started to well in her eyes and Harry's heart began to ache for her.

"Gin." Harry said calmly. "That hasn't happened in over a year and it was right after the war. All of us were on edge." Ginny took in a quick breath.

"I can't get over that, Harry. I could've killed you." A chill flew up Harry's spine as he remembered back to the days immediately following the Battle of Hogwarts. Harry, in the mist of making arrangements for those who were lost, began to feel extremely overwhelmed. After finishing a long discussion with the Ministry, he apperated to the top of the Astronomy Tower and pulled out the Marauder's Map. In part, he did this to reassure himself that all of Voldemort's followers had either died or fled the premises. It was an extremely quiet morning. The Black Lake was completely still and the sunrise reflected off of it as if it were a mirror. The Forbidden Forest was blooming and bursting with beautiful colors. Most would have probably seen this as peaceful; however, Harry viewed it as melancholy.

While looking at the map, Harry noticed Ginny pacing back and forth in front of the Room of Requirement. His need to confide in her overruled this odd behavior and he walked down from the tower. Upon reaching the 7th floor, Harry noticed that the beautifully crafted gothic cathedral walls were no more than rubble on the floor stained with dried blood. The large gaps in the walls allowed the cool morning breeze to enter the building. There was not a window intact; glass covered the cold floor.

Eventually, Harry saw Ginny at the end of a long hallway leading towards the Room of Requirement. Her back was to him and her eyes were fixated on the partially formed doorway, which seemed to be unable to completely appear. Harry knew that this was because he, Hermione, and Ron threw the destroyed diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw into the room while it was being consumed by a charmed fire.

Harry heard a quick intake of air come Ginny. He decided to take this opportunity to walk up behind her and hug her; however, that did not go as planned. Harry had walked half way down the corridor when Ginny began to hear his footsteps. Without Harry noticing, she drew her wand from her pant pocket. She allowed the footsteps to become slightly louder before she turned around far too quickly to realize who was behind her.

"AVADA KEDAVRA" Ginny screamed without a second thought. Harry was not prepared for an Unforgiveable Curse to be casted at him. In any other instance, he would've grabbed his wand from his pocket and dueled, but he knew that this was Ginny; his Ginny. Harry sprinted to the left wall of the hallway, missing the curse by inches.

"WHO THE HELL IS THERE?" Ginny yelled with rage. Harry had never heard her sound as she did before. Her voice was fearless, yet broken; brave, yet nervous. He was so taken aback by the sound of her voice that he could barely answer her.

"Ginny, it's me. It's Harry." He said finally with a weak voice.

"COME OUT TO WHERE I CAN SEE YOU!" Harry complied. The instant that she and he made eye contact, they truly saw each other. They knew that the other was just as damaged as they were. Ginny threw her wand to her side and dropped to her knees and began to sob. Immediately, Harry's went over to her and fell to his knees as well.

"Gin" He began. "Gin, what's going on?" He finished. Ginny looked up at him with tears streaming down her face. Harry had always admired how Ginny was never weepy, but seeing her cry at this moment made Harry feel even closer to her.

"We used The Room of Requirement for Dumbledore's Army because we really needed it." Said Ginny in a weak voice. She then took in a sharp intake of air. "It was a safe place for us to go when we had nowhere else to go and it provided us with what we need the most." She looked away from Harry. "I need my brother, Harry." She finished and fell into Harry's arms.

"I would never intentionally hurt you, Harry." Said Ginny, which brought Harry out of his flashback. "I hope you know that. I don't know what I would do without you." She finished sincerely. Harry looked at her with a loving look. He put his arms around her waist and brought her in for a tight hug.

"We all have demons, Gin." Said Harry. "And now that we both have a full understanding of each other's, we can move forward." Ginny wrapped her arms around Harry's shoulders. "I love you with my whole heart. There is nothing you could do to make me stop loving you. And I'm confident that you're going to be just fine in Wales." He finished.

"I love you too, Harry." Ginny said relieved.

"Come on now. We really need to get going. It's already 6:55." Harry said with a chuckle.

"Bloody Hell! You're right!" Ginny said as she ran over the dining table, stuffed the last bit of bagel into her mouth, grabbed her luggage, and ran back over to Harry. "I'm ready." She said as she grabbed his hand and they apperated.

When they arrived, they were standing in a large hallway that was crafted beautifully from white marble. There were multiple large chandlers made out of crystals hanging from the ceiling in the hall. Gargoyles sitting on tall pillars decorated the walls. In front of Harry and Ginny, there was a large green banner with mustard yellow writing that read "Harpies check-in this way". Harry and Ginny walked moved forward. Eventually, they entered a lobby-like room that was filled with people standing in front of long wooden tables filling out paperwork.

"I can help you over here!" Harry and Ginny heard a voice yell. They turned their heads to see a girl sitting behind one of the wooden tables. They walked over to her.

"Hi! I need your name and where you went to school." The olive skinned, brunette girl asked Ginny.

"I'm Ginny Weasley and I went to Hogwarts" Said Ginny. At first, the girl began to sort through the mountain of paperwork she had in front of her, but she soon stopped and looked at Ginny with her mouth slightly open.

"Are you serious?" She asked suddenly. "You're the Ginny Weasley that fought in the Battle of Hogwarts! And, oh my gosh! You're Harry Potter!" She yelled. Ginny let out a deep sigh. Harry just looked at her and put his hand on the middle of her back.

"Yes, that's who we are." Ginny said in an almost embarrassed way.

"Oh no!" The girl said as she stood up. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. I've just heard so much about both of you. I'm just so honored to meet you both. My name is Gwenog Jones; I graduated from Hogwarts a while back." Her voice began to sound nervous.

"Oh my gosh! Really?" Ginny asked immediately. "I've heard so much about you! You're like an idol for Hufflepuff House." A smile soon grew on both of their faces. Harry just stood there and admired their conversation; this was the first time he had seen Ginny smile a real smile in days. The two chatted about their experiences with quidditch at Hogwarts and how they wished that they were able to live those years over again. Gwenog then handed Ginny a pile of paperwork she needed to fill out.

"Whenever you're finished, feel free to come back up and hand everything to me!" Gwenog said happily.

"Thanks, Ms. Jones!" Ginny said politely as she and Harry started walking away.

"Call me Gwen!" She said loudly. Ginny smiled. She and Harry found seating near the entrance of the room. On either side of the entrance, there were 5 rows with 10 black leather seats in each. Harry and Ginny chose the first open seats they saw that were further than ear-shot distance away from the others filling out paperwork.

"You seem to be in better spirits." Harry said with a chuckle.

"Yeah, I mean, I just never thought I'd meet Gwenog Jones! She's a legend!" Ginny said excitedly as she started filling out her papers. Harry just leaned back and watched Ginny. He found himself doing this quite a lot these days. He wasn't sure if it was because he knew how hard it would be to be away from each other for 2 weeks, or if he was just incredibly proud of her. Whatever the reason was, he knew that he was completely infatuated with her. Ginny looked up at Harry.

"Why are you staring at me? You're being weird." She said with a laugh.

"Oh, sorry. I just zoned out." Harry defended.

"Okay then," said Ginny with an unimpressed look on her face "I need to go hand these in." She said as she held up her pile of papers.

"You finished that already?" Harry questioned.

"Harry, we've been sitting here for nearly a half hour." Ginny paused. "Are you feeling alright, Love?" Harry was in disbelief. How did he manage to distract himself for the second time today?

"Yeah, Gin! I'm fine!" He lied. "I'm just still tired. I didn't sleep well after my nightmare last night." After finishing this statement, Harry internally wished that he was so gifted at not telling the truth.

"I know, Harry. The dreams will get better with time." Ginny froze for a moment. "Everything will get better with time." She said lovingly as she grabbed Harry's hand. They looked at each other.

"I'm really going to miss you, Gin." Harry said in a sad tone. A frown creeped onto Ginny's face and Harry immediately felt guilty. "No! I didn't mean to upset you! I want you to go and have fun and kick arse." Ginny laughed.

"I'm really going to miss you too, Harry. I'll write to you as soon as I'm set up in my room. I promise." She said with strength. Harry had always found Ginny's bravery and determination extremely attractive. He wanted to do nothing but kiss her right there, but he knew that she didn't like when others flaunted their relationships in public. They eventually stood up and walked back over to Gwenog and handed her Ginny's papers.

"Fantastic! Welcome to tryouts, Ginny!" Gwen said as she walked around the wooden table to the side that Ginny and Harry were standing on. "I'll take your bags. If you follow me, I'll take you to your room!" Gwen grabbed Ginny's bags from Harry and began walking forward.  
"Give me one sec, Gwen." Ginny said. Gwen turned around and nodded, then set the luggage down. Ginny turned to look at Harry. The two were so in-tune with each other that they already knew what the other was going to do. They wrapped each other in their arms in a tight hug.

"I love you so much, Ginny." Harry said sweetly. "You're going to do great and you're going to get picked for the season. I can feel it!" They both giggled.

"I love you too, Harry. I'm going to miss you so much." Said Ginny. The grip on their hug lessened and soon their faces were inches from each other's. They felt the stares of everyone in the room. "I really don't want to kiss in front of all of these people, Harry." Ginny stated sadly.

"I know. We don't have to." Harry said as he and Ginny let go of each other.

"I'll see you in 2 weeks." Ginny stated.  
"I'll be looking forward to it." Harry said with a grin. Ginny reciprocated with a smile as she turned away from him. She walked over to Gwen who was still waiting patiently with Ginny luggage. The two walked away down another long marble hallway and Harry watched them until they were no more than two small dots in his vision. He turned around and began to walk the way he came.

He checked his watched. 7:45 am it read. He wondered if Ron or Hermione were awake at this point; however, being that it was a Saturday morning, the odds were not in his favor. He decided to go to the Burrow. No matter what day or time was, Mrs. Weasley was always awake and willing to make a plate of food for anyone.

"Two weeks" Harry sighed. "I can do this." He apperated out of the building.


End file.
